Underwood, Jolly Futures on Hold

The Sports Xchange

09/24/2011

According to Yahoo! Sports on Saturday, the league and the NFL Players' Association have agreed to a list of eight players that ultimately could face league sanction.

Even though the NFL lockout has been settled and the season is under way, there is some lingering business that could ultimately result in up to eight players facing disciplinary action from the league for their activities during the lockout.

According to Yahoo! Sports on Saturday, the league and the NFL Players' Association have agreed to a list of eight players that ultimately could face league sanction.

Only one of the eight is expected to be sanctioned in the coming days, that being Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who ESPN.com reported was facing a three-game suspension for two misdemeanor assaults he was involved in during the lockout. Benson has served five days in jail for those two incidents, but he was never penalized by the NFL.

That penalty appears imminent, according to Yahoo! Sports' report. However, Benson is slated to appeal the pending suspension this Tuesday, according to ESPN's John Clayton.

Underwood, who suffered a knee injury in training camp that has kept him sidelined ever since, has not been penalized and likely won't be, given how much time has elapsed while he has
been rehabbing his knee. According to Scout.com's Aaron Wilson, the Packers were interested in re-signing Underwood after Nick Collins' neck injury but backed away because he likley would be suspended by the league.

Jolly is the only player that has already been punished, having been placed on indefinite suspension for his second drug possession arrest in three years. When he was in town for Kickoff Weekend, commissioner Roger Goodell intimated that Jolly's suspension was not about to be lifted.

While the other players run the risk of being penalized, Britt and Talib have met with Goodell (prior to the current season) and Goodell decided not to punish either player. However, Talib, who is facing charges in a criminal case that is working its way through the court system, could be punished by the league if he is convicted at trial.

Haynesworth was not punished after resolving a court case against him in Washington, D.C., that involved a waitress at a restaurant.

Like Underwood, Jones is injured -- a neck injury landed him on the Bengals' physically-unable-to-perform list.

Lastly, Haggans' has not been penalized, nor has the nature of his offense ever been revealed publicly.